Château Mazeyres

The château

Vines are recorded at Mazeyres from the 14th century, on terraces to the west and south of the Pomerol appellation, straddling Libourne and Pomerol. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, filed it under Libourne among the wines of the sands. The baron Edgard de Susbielle bought it in 1870 and planted widely, and by 1886 it was an estate of 15 hectares, 11 of them in vines, where parts of the vineyard had taken up the Médoc way of training and pruning and Cabernet Sauvignon led the planting: a Pomerol run partly on Médoc lines.

The Querre family bought its Directoire manor early in the 20th century; in 1922 Th. Querre had 16 hectares, 11 in vines. In 1988 the family sold the whole estate to the Caisse de Retraite de la Société Générale, which passed it in 2010 to Sogecap, the bank’s life insurer. Through those corporate years one man gave it continuity: Alain Moueix, an agricultural engineer and enologist, took over the running of Mazeyres in 1992 and directed it for 29 years, until 2021, and he advises it still. In 2020 the Guillard family, which had bought Château Fonroque in Saint-Émilion in 2017, bought Mazeyres. Thomas Cézac has been cellar master since 2020, and Jean-Michel Bernard has run the vineyard since 1999.

The soil changes across 3 zones: fine clayey gravel to the west; clayey sand over black, white or mottled clay to the south; and gravelly, sandy clay, richer in clay, to the east, with iron pan. The 25.57 hectares are planted 73.1% Merlot, 24.3% Cabernet Franc and 2.6% Petit Verdot, 30 years old on average, and the estate has been certified organic since 2015 and biodynamic since 2018, as a member of Biodyvin. The grapes are picked by hand into crates and fermented in temperature-controlled concrete or steel vats; the wine then ages 30% in new barrels, 50% in barrels of 1 wine or more and 20% in concrete eggs of 7 hectoliters. Yields average 38 hectoliters a hectare, for 50,000 to 70,000 bottles, and the second wine is Le Seuil de Mazeyres.

At a glance

Appellation

Pomerol

Commune

Pomerol, the western and southern terraces, reaching into Libourne

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Guillard family, since 2020

Direction

Thomas Cézac, cellar master, since 2020; Jean-Michel Bernard, the vineyard, since 1999

Consultants

Alain Moueix, since 2021; director from 1992 to 2021

Vineyard

25.57 hectares; vines 30 years old on average; 38 hectoliters a hectare

Soil

Clayey gravel to the west, clayey sand to the south, gravelly clay to the east, with iron pan Terroir of Pomerol →

Grapes

Merlot 73.1%, Cabernet Franc 24.3%, Petit Verdot 2.6%

Farming

Organic since 2015; biodynamic since 2018; Biodyvin

Cellar

Picked by hand; concrete or steel vats; 30% new barrels, 50% used barrels, 20% concrete eggs

Production

50,000 to 70,000 bottles

Wines

Château Mazeyres; Le Seuil de Mazeyres

The house

Also Château Fonroque, Saint-Émilion

In history

Planted by the baron de Susbielle from 1870; 15 hectares, 11 of vines, Cabernet Sauvignon leading, in 1886